Generally speaking, an application process may involve numerous entities, including, for example, an applicant, a reviewer, one or more recommenders, an entity from which the applicant is requesting a credential and/or access, and other involved parties. An applicant often has to provide information to the institution. This information was typically gathered by the applicant from various sources and sent to the institution and/or reviewers in paper form, along with an extensive application filled out by the applicant. The applicant would then wait for an extended period of time, often with no information as to the pendency of his application other than an acknowledgement of its receipt.
Conventional systems for automating an application process do not address these issues. For example, a conventional application data entry system may allow an applicant to fill out forms, attach electronic files, and prepare a final application for consideration. This final application, however, may often be the only product and/or result of the conventional system. Typically, the form and content of the final application is fixed. Further, the analysis of the application's merit may be done separately from the data entry system. A conventional system may also fail to allow direct input from persons other than the applicant.
Conventional systems for automating the application suffer from these and other drawbacks.